~CRUCIFERA. LXXXIII. Brassica. 
wardest of these plants will be fit for gathering in the course of 
winter, if the weather be mild; but the principal part should be 
set apart for a continuing spring crop, to increase in growth from 
March till June, without running to seed, as would generally be 
the case if sown before the time just specified. What are not 
used in their colewort state in spring, will advance to cabbaging, 
to be cut either with small hearts, or with middling or full heads, 
in the early part of summer and autumn; and if it be required 
to have coleworts in a younger state in summer and autumn, you 
may sow at the time of raising the spring-sown crop of cabbages. 
_ Taking in the crop. After taking off the head, never neglect 
immediately to pull up the stalk, and carry it off, with all the 
refuse leaves, to the compost heap, in order that the stems may 
not push out shoots to exhaust the ground needlessly, as well as 
to promote neatness and order. Some, who instead of remov- 
ing the roots and stems of the main summer crop, leave them in 
the ground, deprived of their injured leaves, and with the inter- 
vals between the rows stirred, and perhaps manured, allow them 
to stand till spring. Thus treated they push out in autumn; 
and in January or February abound in fine cabbage-sprouts, not 
much inferior to young cabbages. Sometimes this practice is 
applied to the earliest spring or summer sorts, in which case the 
sprout cabbages come into use the following autumn. Cabbage 
Colenorts are gathered when the leaves are as broad as a man’s 
hand. The largest are drawn up by the root, which is usually 
allowed to remain attached to those taken to public market, as it 
Tetains the sap, and tends to preserve them succulent a longer 
period than if the root was taken off. 
** Red Cabbage. Chou pommé rouge (Fr.) Roth Kopfkohl 
(Germ) Cavolo rosso (Ital.) Brassica oleracea, D. Capitata. 
rubra, D. C. 1. c. 
This variety is similar in form to the White Cabbage, but of 
a purple or brownish-red colour. The red cabbage is chiefly 
used for pickling or garnishing; and the dwarf red variety, 
M r. Neill observes, certainly does make one of the most beautiful 
pickles that can be presented at table. Both the dwarf and 
arge sorts are sometimes shredded down in winter salads, like 
beet-root ; and the Germans prepare sour krout from all or any 
of the varieties. 
The following are the principal varieties of Red Cabbage : 
1 Large red, or Red Dutch, with a large firm round head, 
usually cultivated in market gardens. 
2 Dwarf red, with a small round, firm, delicate head, less 
sommon than the other, chiefly cultivated in gentlemen’s gar- 
ens. 
3 Aberdeen red, with an open leafy head, chiefly found in 
cottage gardens in the north of Scotland, and is an ingredient in 
the national dish, the kale. brose. 
he propagation, sowing, and culture, are in all respects the 
Same as for the winter cabbages, excepting that the heads are 
not used when imperfectly formed, or as coleworts, but the 
plants should in all cases be allowed to stand till they have 
formed close firm heads. Sow in August, for a crop to stand 
the winter, and to come in at the close of next summer, and 
thence till the end of autumn. Sow early in spring for returns 
in the following winter or spring. 
, To save seeds of the different kinds of Cabbages, says Mr. 
Neill, affords employment to many persons in various parts of 
England. No plant is more liable to be spoilt by cross-breeds 
than the cabbage tribe; therefore the kinds must be kept, when 
in flower, at a considerable distance from each other. Bees are 
extremely apt to carry the pollen of one to the other, and pro- 
uce confusion in the progeny. Market gardeners, and some 
private individuals, raise seed for their own use. For this pur- 
pose some of the handsomest cabbages are dug up in autumn, 
and sunk in the ground to the head; early next summer the 
VOL. I.—PART IIL. 
233 
flowers appear, and abundance of seed is produced. When the 
seed has been well ripened, it will keep good for eight or ten 
years. It has been observed, that seed gathered from the 
entire plant produce better plants than those that are gathered 
from the sprouts of plants that the heads have been taken off. 
§ 5. Turnip-stemmed Cabbage. Chou-rave (Fr.) Rabi- 
kale or Cole or Kohl-rube (Germ.) Egyptian kale. Cape Cab- 
bage. (Brassica oleracea, E. caulo-rapa, D. C. l. c.) 
These resemble the Swedish turnip, which has shot into a 
head. The stalk is very thick, and extends above ten inches 
above the ground, and this thick stem has the appearance of a 
turnip above ground. The principal varieties are the following : 
1. Egyptian Kale, Rabi-kale (D. C. l.c.) The stalk of this 
variety is very thick, and extends about 10 inches above the 
ground; the leaves are narrow without crenatures, but gene- 
rally have at the lower part a strong undulation on each side ; 
they are of a glaucous-green, like those of the Swedish turnip. 
It is chiefly grown in cottage-gardens, but this is not the true 
Turnip Cabbage. This plant is probably a slight sub-variety 
of the following. 
2 White Turnip-stemmed Cabbage (Engl.) Chou-rave-blunc. 
Chou-rave-commun, Chou de Siam, (Fr.) | Knol-kohl (Cape.) 
B. oleracea, E. caulo-rapa * alba, (D. C. l.c.) Kohl-rube, or 
Kohl-rabi (Germ.) Cabola (Ital.) The stem is thick with a 
round or oval gibbosity in the middle like a turnip, two or three 
inches from the ground, from which the leaves proceed ; they 
are glaucous-green. The heart is open and not cabbaged. The 
plant has not long been introduced, and has chiefly been culti- 
vated as food for cattle, It is very common in the north of 
Europe, especially in Sweden and Poland, where it is to be found 
in every cottage-garden. The turnip part of the stem pared 
and sliced down, is used in soups like the turnip, and sometimes 
also served whole, but unless they are used when very young 
they soon become rank. The leaves are used like those of greens 
or coleworts, but as Abercrombie remarks, unless when very 
young, are disagreeable and rank tasted. This appears scarcely to 
be a variety of the last. Knol-kohl of the Cape and East Indies. 
3 Chou-rave-violet (Fr.) Purple Turnip-stemmed kale. Brás- 
sica oleracea, E. Caulo-rapa * * purpurascens, (D. C. l.c.) This 
variety is distinguished from the last in having purplish leaves 
and stems. ‘The turnip on the stem is nearly of the same shape, 
and the plant is cultivated for the same purposes. 
4 Chou-rave crepu (Fr.)  Puvonazza (Ital.) (Brassica 
oleracea, E. caulo-rapa B, crispa D. C. l. c.) This variety 
grows short on the ground, and in the spring shoots up strongly 
from the crown and sides, which are curled and fringed on the 
edges. The bulb on the stem is not so thick as in the two 
last varieties. The plant is chiefly cultivated at Naples. _ 
The propagation, sowing, culture, and saving seed are in all 
respects the same as for the varieties of Borecole, which see. 
§ 6. Cauliflower and Brocoli. (Brássica oleracea, F. bo- 
trytis, D. C. l. c.) These are distinguished from the other 
varieties of Brássica oleracea, by the peduncles and racemes 
being corymbose, very fleshy, and very much crowded before 
flowering. 
* Cauliflower, Chou-fleur (Fr.) Blumenkoht (Germ.) Ca- 
volo fiori (Ital.) This is one of the most delicate and curious 
of the whole of the Brassica tribe, the flower-buds forming a 
close firm cluster or head, white and delicate, and for the sake 
of which the plant is cultivated. These heads or flowers being 
boiled, wrapped generally in a clean linen cloth, are served up 
as a most delicate dish. Cauliflower is a particular favourite in 
this country. “ Of all the flowers in the garden,” Dr. Johnson 
used to say, “ I like the cauliflower.” Its culture, however, 
had been but little attended to till about the close of the 17th 
century ; since that time it has been greatly improved, insomuch 
